At a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium, on February 14, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced an increase in the bloc's defense budget, just days after former US President Donald Trump criticized NATO countries for not spending enough 2% of GDP on defense.
Currently, only 11 out of 31 NATO member states meet the target of 2% GDP for defense in 2023. This number could increase to 20 countries in 2024. According to observers, Europe was too confident that stability had been restored after decades of peace and prioritized economic development, neglecting the defense sector. However, recent geopolitical tensions and conflicts have awakened Europe. Peace is no longer guaranteed.
According to observers, all European NATO member countries are not ready to fight back against an attack despite having a common defense network and the North Atlantic military alliance. Many experts believe that Europe is still too dependent on the US for defense. Donald Trump's threat forces European countries to imagine a future without the US shield.
In fact, in the past two years, Europe has advocated increasing its defense budget, with the 2% GDP target for defense becoming the floor, not the ceiling. Global instability along with the uncertainty of whether the Republican or Democratic party will rule in the US has forced Europe to consider avoiding being too dependent on Washington. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned the “war economy”. Sweden restarted military service. Poland invested 3.9% of its GDP in defense. In the “Weimar triangle” meeting between France, Germany and Poland, these countries all called for strengthening European defense...
General Dominique Trinquand, former head of the French Military Mission to the United Nations and NATO, noted that although the ambition of European strategic autonomy has not yet been achieved, most Eastern and Southern European countries still rely on Washington for protection through the purchase of military equipment, Europe still needs to rearm and restructure to become self-sufficient in defense. Of course, this must take place within the framework of NATO.
PEARL
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